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About Us
THE UNIVERSITY
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is located near Research Triangle Park, home to over one hundred industries and foundations. The cities of Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham form the "Triangle," and foster a unique metropolitan area offering abundant cultural and educational opportunities. Chapel Hill enjoys the best of small town living in a cosmopolitan environment. The University is the nation's first state university, and is one of two research institutions in the sixteen-campus state university system, covering over 700 acres, with 24,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students enrolled.
PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers two undergraduate degrees: The Bachelor of Science in Physics and the Bachelor of Arts in Physics. Students who are interested in astronomy may take astronomy courses as part of their requirements for either degree. Students at all levels, regardless of the degree they are pursuing, are encouraged to participate in the active research groups in the department. Students pursuing the B.A. degree have the option of completing a double major with another department. A minor in Physics and a minor in Astronomy are also offered. Further information is available.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy also offers graduate work leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy. The active fields of research are condensed-matter physics, microelectronics, biophysics, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics and string theory, general relativity and gravitation, astronomy, and astrophysics. Students with a strong background in physics and an interest in biology can also enroll formally for graduate study with our department and become affiliated for their research with faculty in the UNC Biophysics Program. The graduate courses are designed to give a broad foundation and to introduce the student to areas of active research in the Department. A well-stocked library for physics and mathematics, subscribing to over 290 physics journals and containing 68,000 volumes, is housed in Phillips Hall.
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
The Department invites applications for study leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. We have 77 graduate students, 36 permanent faculty members, and more than 15 visiting scientists and research associates in our program. Fellowships and teaching or research assistantships are awarded to well-qualified applicants. Teaching assistantships are currently $16,290 for nine months, and research assistantships are $21,720 a year. Health insurance is covered by the University. Summer support is offered, mainly in our research laboratories. External contract and grant resources to support Departmental research programs has risen to $8.22M in 2001-2002. Additional support has recently become available for the Department to join the 10.5-meter Southern African Large Telescope project, and $1.2M to acquire and upgrade a transmission electron microscope as part of the new W. M. Keck Atomic Imaging and Manipulation Laboratory. The two new facilities complement the Department's ongoing major role in the 4.2-meter SOAR Telescope in Chile and the North Carolina Center for Nanomaterials housed in Phillips Hall. The research support has increased by a factor of over 4 in the past decade and have led to a significant increase in graduate student and postdoctoral fellow support, as well as major new instrumentation.
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
In the following pages we describe briefly the organization of and regulations governing graduate studies and present an overview of research opportunities that exist in the Department. For further information please contact us or visit us in Chapel Hill.
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